I need FR-8 Mauser barrel dimensions

[thegeep]

OK, before anyone flames me for going all "bubba" on this rifle, I am not making any permanent modifications and will keep all the original parts together and safely stored. Now for the meat of it:

I want to change the stock on a Spanish FR-8 mauser. This rifle features a 98 (originally the M43) action that the Spanish fitted with a CETME barrel. I want to put this in a Hogue overmolded stock (haven't yet decided on the pillar or full block version-help here is also appreciated). I have the barrel channel dimensions for the stock, now I need the dimensions for this barrel to see if this is feasible. I have not yet aquired the rifle (so I can't meaure it myself) but have several sources available.

Will someone with a caliper please check the barrel diameter nearest the receiver, at the end of the stock, and any "steps" in between.

Thanks in advance.

Bill

 

[desidog]

What you want to do can't be done without permanently altering the gun. If you remove the front retainer for the FR8 stock, you need to remove the front sight, and the flash suppressor; with the Hogue stock you won't be able to have an upper handguard.

If you put the sights back on....unless you grind off the rear sight....it'll look weird with the barrel exposed; and the front sight base will protrude oddly with the bottom part hanging free without the toolkit/oiler tube that ties into the stock fore-end / handguard retainer piece. So you might end up grinding the bottom of the front sight off too.

Overall, IMHO, if you're going to pay for a FR8, you should keep it stock. With the time, effort, and loot to get it to where you want it to be, you'd be better off starting with a Vz24 (if they're still the cheapest large-ring) and get it rebarrelled to 308, or keep it 8mm, or just buy a 98 action and build up from there.

 

[rcmodel]

and will keep all the original parts together and safely stored.

Been my experiance over a lifetime of gun collecting that will never work out for ya.

They will end up being sold in a box of junk for $1.00 at your estate sale.

rc

 

[thegeep]

"Can't be done without permanently altering the gun"

Yes, it can.

And I am aware of what has to be removed and put back on and what it will look like afterward. I would leave front sight intact so the cap of the cleaning kit tube can be left in the bottom of the front sight so the bayonet can still be mounted.

"you'd be better off starting with a Vz24 (if they're still the cheapest large-ring) and get it rebarrelled to 308, or keep it 8mm, or just buy a 98 action"

Have you seen the prices for these rifles, and even just actions lately? Plus I would have to buy and have installed a new barrel (using 7.62 is a non-negotiable requirement for this project) and have it cut, crowned and threaded. I like my rear sight on the receiver, so I would have buy the sight then have the receiver drilled and tapped for it. All together, it would cost me a lot more to get all these parts just equal to where the FR-8 starts out, and I would have a Frankengun that could never be made original.

 

[thegeep]

Been my experiance over a lifetime of gun collecting that will never work out for ya.

They will end up being sold in a box of junk for $1.00 at your estate sale.

Hopefully I will have schooled the person I pass this on to enough that they'll know what's what. Even if not, I don't think I'll care what happens at my estate sale when I'm dead and buried.

Now, would someone please answer my original question maybe without telling me what I shouldn't do with my own gun?

 

[thegeep]

Well, I got a very good deal on a brand new Ruger Gunsite Scout. Still comes to a bit more than I could have built something similar for, but some nice FR-8 somewhere will remain 100% intact, and I won't have to change a thing on this gun. I do wish it had a stripper clip guide in addition to the removeable mags. I think it's much easier and cheaper to carry strippers than lots of magazines. A Hogue overmolded stock would be really nice and a 1.5-2" longer barrel (16.5" is just a hair short IMHO) would be ideal, but it will go unmolested for now.